diff --git a/src/poller.ts b/src/poller.ts
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..da7c08c2
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/poller.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,46 @@
+export class Poller {
+	/**
+	 * On pages like the post editor or post list, the heartbeat is fired right at the beginning
+	 * of the page load. We already fetched the notifications on page load, so this would result
+	 * in a duplicate request. To prevent this, we skip the first heartbeat tick for the first X seconds.
+	 */
+	SKIP_FIRST_INTERVAL = 5000;
+	public skipFirstBeat = true;
+
+	constructor( shouldSkipFirstBeat = true ) {
+		this.skipFirstBeat = shouldSkipFirstBeat;
+	}
+
+	public pollUpdates() {
+		if ( this.skipFirstBeat ) {
+			return;
+		}
+		window.wp.notifications.fetchUpdates( true );
+	}
+
+	public unsetSkipFirstBeat() {
+		setTimeout( () => {
+			this.skipFirstBeat = false;
+		}, this.SKIP_FIRST_INTERVAL );
+	}
+
+	public start() {
+		if ( this.skipFirstBeat ) {
+			this.unsetSkipFirstBeat();
+		}
+
+		wp.hooks.addAction(
+			'heartbeat.tick',
+			'wp-notifications/pollUpdates',
+			this.pollUpdates.bind( this )
+		);
+	}
+
+	public stop() {
+		wp.hooks.removeAction(
+			'heartbeat.tick',
+			'wp-notifications/pollUpdates',
+			this.pollUpdates.bind( this )
+		);
+	}
+}
diff --git a/src/store/actions.ts b/src/store/actions.ts
index 390500b7..a33555cf 100644
--- a/src/store/actions.ts
+++ b/src/store/actions.ts
@@ -13,6 +13,13 @@ export const hydrate = ( payload: Notice[] ) => {
 	};
 };
 
+export const rehydrate = ( payload: Notice[] ) => {
+	return {
+		type: 'REHYDRATE' as const,
+		payload,
+	};
+};
+
 /**
  * Action creator to clear a notification context from the store.
  *
diff --git a/src/store/reducer.ts b/src/store/reducer.ts
index fb3085c8..dff6743e 100644
--- a/src/store/reducer.ts
+++ b/src/store/reducer.ts
@@ -24,6 +24,38 @@ const reducer: Reducer< State, Action > = ( state = {}, action ) => {
 			} );
 			return updated;
 		}
+		case 'REHYDRATE': {
+			let updated = { ...state };
+			// Merge the new notifications with the existing ones.
+			action.payload.forEach( ( notification ) => {
+				const context = notification.context || 'adminbar';
+
+				const existingOnes = updated[ context ] || [];
+				const existing = existingOnes.findIndex(
+					( notice ) => notice.id === notification.id
+				);
+
+				if ( existing > -1 ) {
+					updated[ context ][ existing ] = notification;
+				} else {
+					updated = {
+						...updated,
+						[ context ]: [ ...updated[ context ], notification ],
+					};
+				}
+			} );
+
+			// Remove any notifications that are no longer in the payload.
+			for ( const context in updated ) {
+				updated[ context ] = updated[ context ].filter( ( notice ) => {
+					return action.payload.find( ( payloadNotice ) => {
+						return payloadNotice.id === notice.id;
+					} );
+				} );
+			}
+
+			return updated;
+		}
 		case 'ADD': {
 			return {
 				...state,
diff --git a/src/store/resolvers.ts b/src/store/resolvers.ts
index 0fdf033e..c4bdc84b 100644
--- a/src/store/resolvers.ts
+++ b/src/store/resolvers.ts
@@ -1,12 +1,16 @@
-import { fetchAPI, hydrate } from './actions';
+import { fetchAPI, hydrate, rehydrate } from './actions';
 
 /**
  * Fetch the rest api in order to get new notifications
+ *
+ * @param force
  */
-export const fetchUpdates = function* () {
+export const fetchUpdates = function* ( force = false ) {
 	const newNotifications = yield fetchAPI();
 
+	const action = force ? rehydrate : hydrate;
+
 	if ( newNotifications ) {
-		return hydrate( newNotifications );
+		return action( newNotifications );
 	}
 };
diff --git a/src/store/selectors.ts b/src/store/selectors.ts
index 61857b9a..d3f808f9 100644
--- a/src/store/selectors.ts
+++ b/src/store/selectors.ts
@@ -10,9 +10,11 @@ import type { State } from './index';
  * Fetch the rest api in order to get new notifications
  *
  * @param state the current state
+ * @param force
  * @return the new notifications
  */
-export const fetchUpdates = ( state: State ): State => state || {};
+export const fetchUpdates = ( state: State, force = false ): State =>
+	state || {};
 
 /**
  * Get the notices for the given context
diff --git a/src/wp-notifications.ts b/src/wp-notifications.ts
index e343f23a..92edce35 100644
--- a/src/wp-notifications.ts
+++ b/src/wp-notifications.ts
@@ -5,6 +5,7 @@ import './styles/wp-notifications.scss';
 
 /** The store default data */
 import { STORE_NAMESPACE } from './constants';
+import { Poller } from './poller';
 import { contexts } from './store/constants';
 import type { Notice } from './types';
 import { addContext } from './utils/init';
@@ -20,8 +21,23 @@ export * as store from './store';
 const notifications = {
 	/**
 	 * Fetch for new notices
+	 *
+	 * @param forceRefresh - Whether to force a refresh of the notices, or use the cached value.
 	 */
-	fetchUpdates: () => select( STORE_NAMESPACE ).fetchUpdates(),
+	fetchUpdates: ( forceRefresh = false ) => {
+		return new Promise( ( resolve ) => {
+			if ( ! forceRefresh ) {
+				resolve( select( STORE_NAMESPACE ).fetchUpdates( false ) );
+				return;
+			}
+
+			dispatch( STORE_NAMESPACE )
+				.invalidateResolution( 'fetchUpdates', [ true ] )
+				.then( () => {
+					resolve( select( STORE_NAMESPACE ).fetchUpdates( true ) );
+				} );
+		} );
+	},
 
 	/**
 	 * List all notifications or those of a particular context
@@ -67,6 +83,8 @@ const notifications = {
 	 */
 	clear: ( context = 'adminbar' ) =>
 		dispatch( STORE_NAMESPACE ).clear( context ),
+
+	poller: new Poller(),
 };
 
 /** Appends the wp-notifications instance to window.wp in order to provide a public API */
@@ -82,6 +100,8 @@ contexts.forEach( ( context ) =>
 /** after registering contexts we could fetch the notifications */
 select( STORE_NAMESPACE ).fetchUpdates();
 
+notifications.poller.start();
+
 /**
  * Loops into contexts and adds a NoticesArea component for each one
  */